


Detective Zero: The Case of Love

by Dark_Cynder49



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Axl has dark past, Bass is a little shit, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Everyone Is Gay, Hostage Situations, Implied Sexual Content, Kidnapping, M/M, Proto is protective, Red alert exists, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Tension, THEY'RE ALL HUMANS, Torture, X is the oldest sibling, Zero is the oldest sibling, backstabbing, zero is hella gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-04-07 06:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19079227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Cynder49/pseuds/Dark_Cynder49
Summary: Zero is a private detective with his partner, Axl. One day, a mysterious, but sexy man walks in and asks for help to find his missing siblings. Zero accepts the case. He's led down a trail of clues only to run into his arch rival along the way. Will Zero manage to help X find his missing siblings? Or will this be one case he just can't solve?





	1. Peaceful opening

There was a comforting silence in the room which could put any man at ease.

Zero was honestly grateful for these moments because it meant he could relax and be in his own thoughts. 

He was one of the best private detectives in the city, which meant not a lot of free time in between cases, but this week had been relatively calm.

Zero grinned to himself as he leaned back in his chair, his long, blond hair tied back into a ponytail gently dragging on the floor. He propped up his feet on his desk and pulled out a package of cigarettes. Zero’s eyes drifted across the room as he fished around his desk drawer for a lighter, eventually landing on the only other person in the room.

The detective couldn’t help but smile at Axl as he laid on the floor, his chin resting on his hands as he flipped through the pages of a book. His legs were swaying in the air, crossed together, sometimes hitting the floor and his chestnut hair was starting to slip out of the ponytail which Zero made a mental note of to fix later. 

It had been roughly 6 months ago when Zero realized that he needed a partner. He’d sent out out an ad and got at least a hundred people just lined up to apply, but none of them were fit enough to satisfy the qualifications. 

It wasn’t until Zero had caught a young man trying to rob his office had he found the perfect person. The kid put up a good fight, to the point where he’d almost won, but was inevitably subdued by Zero. 

The detective noted how rugged the kid was and offered him the job, including housing and food, to which the kid agreed and now lived with Zero. It took time before Zero gained enough trust for the kid to give him information, heck, it took two days before he even told his name, but Zero was patient.

Over the next 6 months, Zero had grown to love Axl like he was his son. He still didn’t know everything about the young ginger, like where he got the cross-shaped scar on his face, but he didn’t feel like it was necessary to pester him.

The blond let out a small hum of amusement as he watched Axl flip through pages of a book about weapons, which he’d gotten the younger boy after seeing his interest in them. 

Zero put a cigarette in his mouth and began to light it when he heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance. He glanced at the window to see small raindrops start to hit the glass.

A late afternoon shower was just the cherry on top for a day like today. 

Zero let out a blow of smoke as he folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. 

However, his enjoyment was short-lived when the pair heard the familiar sound of footsteps clacking down the hallway, approaching his office door.


	2. Enter: Client

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Zero... focus on the assignment and not on your sexy client.

Zero noted that the footsteps sounded more like the sound of high heels hitting the ground, which only made the detective groan.

He was already predicting that the client would be some love-struck female trying to seduce Zero with her body, which only aggravated the blond to no end. 

Zero watched Axl get up from his place on the ground, put the book away and then take his place next to Zero’s side. The detective smiled slightly before going back to a solemn expression and lowering his fedora so he wouldn’t have to look at the female client when she walked through the door.

The footsteps stopped at the door then they heard a knock.

“It’s open,” Zero responded with a lack of emotion.

The door opened and the client stepped inside, closing the door behind them.

Zero expected them to squeal and run over to his desk, but he heard no movement or sound, as if they were waiting for him to acknowledge them. The blond heard no noise from Axl, which slightly concerned him, so lifted his hat to get a better look their mysterious client. 

What Zero saw almost made his heart stop.

Standing in front of them, patiently waiting to be acknowledged, wasn’t a female, but a man. He had a noticeably slender figure, slightly curvy around the hips. His hair was a very dark brown, almost black, which just made his emerald green eyes even more noticeable. He wore a white vest over a light blue dress shirt, white suit pants and black boots which had an one inch heel. The man held a vanilla folder along with a blue umbrella that was slightly wet.

Zero couldn’t help but stare at this beautifully figured man. He felt attracted to him, drawn to him, he could never let this man out of his life again. He needed to-

“Um… you are Detective Zero, correct?” The sound of the man’s voice snapped Zero out of his thoughts and almost made him fall out of his chair.

The blond regained his composure and sat up straight, clearing his throat, “Ahem! Yes… my apologies. I am detective Zero and this is my partner, Axl. What can we help you with today, Mr…?”

“Light… Xavier Light. But my friends call me X.” The soft smile the brunet gave made Zero’s heart race.

“Alright… X... “ The blond liked the way it rolled off his tongue, “What do you require our assistance for?”

Axl took notice of his mentor’s sudden interest in their client, which he already had an off feeling for. The ginger was surprised at the change in Zero’s demeanor, going from stoic to love struck almost instantly. He was gonna have to keep an eye on their mysterious client to ensure that he doesn’t try anything bad.

Thanks to being in the workforce that deals with the darker side of town, Zero had gained quite a few enemies that have vowed to kill the blond detective. 

Axl knew most of them thanks to his past with the gangs in the city; The Red Alert Mafia, Vile’s gang, and a few scattered individuals. 

Zero was good at seeing through any ploy they sent his way, so Axl wasn’t too worried, but he was still suspicious.

X placed the vanilla folder on Zero’s desk, “It… It’s my younger siblings… they… they’ve been kidnapped and I don’t know what to do…”

The slight hitch in the brunet’s voice alerted Zero that beneath the collective demeanor of their client, there was a great deal of fear and concern. “Kidnapped? What led you to the conclusion that they were kidnapped?”

The brunet took a seat in the chair facing Zero’s desk, “24 hours after they went missing, I got a phone call telling me that my baby brother and sister were still alive. They said I wasn’t to involve the police and they would give me their demands when they saw fit…” X took a deep breath in before exhaling, “It’s been nearly four days since they went missing. I haven’t gotten any more phone calls from them and I’m getting scared.”

Zero felt a tug of guilt as he watched X become more desperate as he explained his situation.

Slowly, he reached over and grasped the brunet’s hands with his own. Calmly running his thumb over the smooth skin, the detective’s deep blue eyes met the fear-filled emerald eyes, “I will find your younger siblings, X. I’ll search this entire goddamn city if I have to. I will not rest until they are safely back home.” 

There was a brief spark of hope and amazement that flashed in X’s eyes. He felt safe and assured by the taller male’s words, and the way his hands held his own just felt so natural, like they were meant for each other.

“Thank you… so much Zero…” X gave the detective a soft smile. 

Zero returned the smile before letting go and leaning back into his chair, “So, what do your siblings look like?”


	3. Cliche Exposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update. I've been away for a while and transferring this story from paper to the computer takes some time. Here's the next part and yes, I believe that Proto and Rock have a good brother relationship. I'll probably showcase it more when I get to the moment when I finally shed some light on the twins and Blues while they're being held hostage.

The brunet gestured to the vanilla folder, “Everything that I know is in there.”

Tentatively, Zero opened the folder to reveal a small stack of paper with four pictures on top. Two of the pictures were school photos of X’s younger siblings.

One was a young boy, looking roughly the age of 7. He looked like a smaller version of X, but his hair was a slightly lighter shade of brown and it was a bit more unruly and fluffy. His eyes were also a shade of sky blue, instead of the sharp green that X had. 

The other sibling was a young girl, also looking roughly 7. Her hair was long and a pure blond color, similar to Zero’s, tied back into a ponytail by a bright green ribbon. Similar to the other child, her eyes were also blue, having a tinted transition into a somewhat teal color.

“The boy’s name is Rock and the girl’s name is Roll. They’re twins and did almost everything together. They’re both 7 years old, just going into 1st grade. They were taken on their way home from school,” X explained.

Zero nodded and turned his attention to the third picture, which looked like a family portrait. 

It showed X sitting down with Roll in his lap, Rock was sitting in a chair beside X with a young teen standing behind Rock, resting his hand on the young boy’s shoulder. The young teen looked around 13 or 14, his hair was a light brown, almost auburn color and styled differently than the other two boys. He wore a pair of sunglasses and a very distinctive yellow scarf.

“Who is this?” Zero questioned, pointed at the teen. 

“That’s my other brother, Blues,” X began, “He was born six years before the twins. He was very close with Rock, helping me take care of him, it became very hard to separate them. Blues would walk the twins to school every day and met them in the elementary school playground after school in order to walk them home.” X’s smile soon faltered, “Blues was running a bit late one day, so the twins started to go home by themselves. When Blues finally got out, the twins were gone. He went into a panic and began to search around the city frantically, hoping the twins were only lost. I got home from work a couple hours later to find that Blues hadn’t come home. I waited for them for another 2 hours. By then, it was becoming dusk, so I drove to the school to see if they were just playing, but I only found Blues sitting on the swings. When I got him home, he started to angry cry right in front of me, something he had never done before. He told me that the twins were missing and he couldn’t find them.”

X took a moment to pause and let out a defeated sigh before continuing, “I put him to bed, telling him we’d search the next morning. But…. when I woke up the next morning……. Blues was gone. His window was shattered, the room was a mess, the bed sheets torn, and there were blood droplets on the floor….”

The brunet clenched onto his pant legs, “Whoever kidnapped Rock and Roll decided to kidnap Blues as well….”

The two detectives watched in silence as the well-classed man began to cripple in front of them.

“I don’t know what to do Zero…. I can’t go to the police or else they’ll kill them! I just want them back home safe!” X managed to strangle out before hiccuping and allowing to several tears to run down his face.

Zero quickly got up from his chair and moved beside X. He gently rubbed circles across the smaller male’s back, “It’s going to be okay, I promise….” The blond pulled out a red handkerchief and gently wiped the tears away, “I swear by my honor that I will find your siblings X. No matter what it takes.”

Their eyes met once more and X could sense the overwhelming confidence that rested in the sapphire eyes. 

The brunet gave a small nod and a soft smile, “Thank you Zero….”


	4. The First Suspect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing a new character!! 
> 
> Sorry again for crappy uploading schedules, school just kind of got in the way and I returned back to drawing instead of writing, but don't worry! I have the next few chapters already written and all I have to do is transfer them from paper to digital

Axl watched the scene unfold in front of him before turning his attention back to the vanilla folder that was still open on the desk. He noticed that there was still one more picture they had yet to look at. Picking it up, the photo was of Rock, Roll, Blues, and a fourth child playing on the sidewalk. 

The child looked about 8 or 9, had jet black hair that was loose in the front, but the back was slicked back. The boy also had two distinct birthmarks under his eyes that looked like he was constantly crying. His eyes were a bright red, which seemed to imply that he had some sort of disease. 

Axl looked over at Zero, who was still having a moment with X. The ginger returned his gaze to the picture, “Um… X? Who is this kid in the picture? The one with the black hair.”

The brunet turned his gaze towards the younger male, “The kid with black hair?” He leaned over to look at the picture, “Oh! That’s Bass!”

Neither of the males seemed to notice Zero tense up at the mention of the name. 

“Who is Bass?” Axl questioned, now intrigued.

“Bass is actually a kid who lives off the streets. He became friends with Rock, Roll, and Blues one day while they were at the park. I haven’t seen Bass since Blues went missing though,” X closed his eyes in thought.

Axl slammed his hands on the desk, “Do you think he has something to do with your siblings kidnapping?!” 

X was about to reply when he was suddenly cut off by Zero, “Bass has NOTHING to do with the kidnapping, Axl…”

Both X and Axl looked over at the detective, X with a slight expression of relief and Axl with an expression of confusion and disbelief, “Wha? Zero how do you know?! I mean I know you have like a good hunch and everything, but you couldn’t possibly know about this kid if you’ve never me-”

“I HAVE met him before Axl…” Zero interrupted again, “It was a couple cases before you joined. I had a case that involved Dynamo’s gang that he got mixed up in. He’s a good kid… just a little stubborn. Bass isn’t the kind of kid who would kidnap his friends…”

X nodded at this statement a little, “That is true… Bass never seemed like he would ever want to hurt Rock, Roll, and Blues…”

Axl was a bit more stand-offish about this whole decision about the mysterious and potentially deadly kid, “I guess… we should track down Bass and question him about what he knows!!” The ginger said in a determined manor.

The brunet looked slightly distressed at this suggestion, “That would be great, but I haven’t seen Bass in a while and he’s never told me where he lives.”

Zero stood up from his desk and held his cigarette in his hand, letting out a puff of smoke, “I know where to find him…”

“Huh?! How?!” Axl questioned, fixing his ponytail to make it tighter.

The blond stepped past X and towards the door, grabbing his jacket, “I have my sources…”

The ginger nodded, grabbed the vanilla folder and started to follow Zero out when they were both blocked by a stern looking X, “And are you two just going to leave me behind?”

Zero rested a hand on the brunet’s shoulder, “This isn’t any place for a gentleman of your stature.”

X swatted his hand away, “Are you calling me short, Detective?”

“What? No! I would never call you short! I just mean-” 

Zero was cut off by X getting very close to his face, “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!” He turned away, slightly glancing over his shoulder to glare at Zero with cold emerald eyes, “Now. I’m coming along whether you want me to or not!”

And with that said, X walked away down the hallway, leaving Zero speechless.

Axl was ready to punch X in the face, rolling up his sleeve, but Zero just smiled, confusing the young ginger.

“Damn…” Zero managed to mumble out, “He’s hot stuff…” The detective followed the huffy brunet down the hall, leaving Axl to run after them, slightly annoyed.


	5. Going Downtown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YAY ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE! This chapter took a while to type out, and I tried to add a lot of description and detail! Please Enjoy!!!

It took about an hour of walking down the sidewalks and taking taxi cabs in the large city to get to where Zero wanted to be. X and Axl were both a bit confused when Zero finally led them past a construction site and down a back alleyway that had its entrance covered by a tarp. 

The alley stretched a couple buildings long, against the walls were opened trash bins, decaying newspapers that had been swept there by the wind, and plenty of city pest problems. 

As they were slowly walking, Zero leading with X behind him a few paces and Axl sticking close behind the brunet in front of him, a rather large grey rat darted out from underneath an empty box that X had slightly kicked and disappeared under a pile of trash, causing X to immediately flinch back, letting out a sharp yelp in the process. Axl also flinched backwards at the sudden movement, instinctively grabbing onto the back of X’s jacket. Zero looked back at the two and let out a defeated sigh and continued walking, with the now on-edge males following behind him.

Eventually, they made it to the end of the enclosed alleyway and stepped out into a smallish, cubical court that was surrounded on all four sides by buildings, all which were either in the process of being built or were falling apart. The building that was facing the alleyway was the one Zero was starting to walk towards. 

Out of all of the buildings, this one seemed to be in the worst shape. It was a three-story building that seemed to be an abandoned apartment complex. Most of the windows that could be seen were cracked, completely shattered, or had a couple sparse wooden planks poorly nailed to them, which were also rotting away. The coat of paint that had once covered the building was peeling and chipped, revealing the somewhat true color of the material underneath, now being a musty dark red that was clotted with dirt and other elements that had built up over time. The building had a wooden back door that was starting to grow mold, two of its three hinges had broken off from the wall so the door was resting at a tilted angle. It honestly looked like if it was touched in the wrong way, it would collapse and turn into dust.

Zero walked over to the practically decaying building, examined the door for a few seconds before carefully picking it up to its rightful position and gently opening it inward, very mindful to not break it. He looked back outside to his companions and gestured them to enter.

Neither moved at first, both of them too flabbergasted at the state of the building to notice Zero.

“Is… is this where Bass lives…?” Axl managed the squeak out, not taking his eyes off the building.

“Whenever I would see him… he looked decently dressed….” X muttered in response, his emotions starting to build up.

Seemingly snapping out of their combined state of shock, Axl let out a small exhale and slowly stepped inside the building with X cautiously trailing behind them.

As Zero started to expertly put the door back to its previous position, X and Axl took this time to examine the floor.

The first floor had a similar layout to any typical, cheap apartment complex, a hallway leading down to the front office, apartment doors on either side of the hallway and a staircase that led up to the second floor. There were about three doors on each side, some were halfway off the hinges, the golden room numbers were all decayed and rusted. The carpet was filthy and pulled up at some parts, revealing rotten wooden floor underneath. 

The stairs weren’t any better in condition. Each step had at least a sixth of it pulled up and splintered. The boards were rotting, dark in color from mold and water damage. None of them looked safe to put any sort of pressure on or they could snap from the weight.

Once Zero had finished putting the door back, he walked over to the staircase and looked back at X and Axl, “Come on…” He carefully started to make his way up the stairs, earning a loud creak each time he put pressure on a step. 

The two males watched as the blond detective made his way up the stairs with silent horror, terrified that Zero was going to fall through the floor. Despite their fear, Zero made it to the top and gestured for the others to follow him up.

Wanting to prove his courage, Axl skittishly put one foot on the first step and flinched when it made a loud creak. Taking a deep breath, the young male quickly bolted up the stairs, trying to not put too much weight on a single step. He stumbled at the top step but quickly recovered and grinned triumphantly.

X was now the only person at the bottom of the stairs, still having to trek up the dangerous obstacle. His eyes met Zero’s, the reassuring sapphires managed to calm the trembling emeralds, and he was filled with a little bit more confidence. Slowly, X made his way up the stairs, carefully watching where he placed his feet. He got to the top step, when he suddenly tripped over the last step, just like how Axl did. X stumbled forward only to be caught in Zero’s arms. He let out a gasp of surprise and stared up into Zero’s eyes, a slight blush slowly creeping onto his cheeks. Out of sheer embarrassment, X pulled away and cleared his throat, “Thank you…”

Zero smiled and nodded before leading them down the hall of an almost identical floor to the one below minus the front office. One of the room’s door was completely torn off and Zero walked into the room.

The room itself was actually semi-put together compared to the rest of the building. The windows weren’t broken, just slightly cracked and had large pieces of black-out fabric stapled over them to act as curtains. There was a fairly new twin size mattress that was fully covered with bedding and pillows. There was even a small, purple wolf plush, that looked a little worn, resting on top of the pillow. There were books, crayons, paper, a deck of playing cards, and an old TV just spread out across the floor.

The blond detective slowly walked over to the scattered pieces of paper and crayons, knelt down and picked up one of the drawings. The edges of his mouth curled into a small smile before folding the piece of paper and sliding it into his pocket. 

X was a bit confused by this action, “Um… Zero? Why did you just take that drawing? What was it a drawing of?”

The older male just shook his head, “It’s not important, X…” He continued to look around the room, as if almost inspecting the room, leaving X and Axl standing there confused.

They remained in the room for about an hour, until they finally heard the faint creaking of the wooden stairs slowly getting louder and louder. The three boys took a step away from the doorway and looked in the direction of the top of the stairs. 

There standing, at the top of the staircase, was Bass, dirt covering his face and clothes, his hair messed up almost like he got into a scuffle. His eyes were wide, like a deer in headlights as he stared at the three adults who were standing in his room. Eventually, Bass’ gaze rested on Zero, causing the child to shift his weight between his feet.

Zero noticed this and crossed his arms, “Bass…” 

The raven haired boy looked away, “Why are you here… you aren’t allowed to be here.” His fists clenching tightly to the point where his knuckles turn slightly white.

X stepped forward towards Bass, using a soft tone, “Bass, we need you to help find out who took Rock, Roll, and Blues.” 

“I don’t know anything!” Bass snapped rather quickly, making Zero slightly suspicious.

“Bass… look at me.” The tone of the detective’s voice made the younger boy flinch and just remain silent. He could feel the older male stare at him intensely, which only made Bass let out a noise of discomfort.

Zero let out a small sigh of reluctance before crouching down to become eye-level with the child, saying in a gentle voice, “Come on… let’s get you out of here…” The blond detective lifted Bass off the ground, resting the raven haired boy on his forearm and wrapped his other arm around the boy’s waist.

Bass didn’t complain when Zero picked him up, which surprised X who had only experienced Bass being snarky and rude.

Zero turned and walked out of the room, signaling X and Axl to follow him. 

They left the building and walked down the sidewalk towards Zero’s office.

Axl kept a close eye on what Zero was doing with Bass, seeing the blond whisper things to the child, who only nodded or shook his head. The ginger also saw the detective nuzzle a little fluff of Bass’ hair, which calmed the boy a little more.


End file.
